NEW YORK, Sept. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Creative Allies, the leading fan-sourcing website for bands, announced today that Kevin Carroll, VP of Business Development, has been named Chief Operating Officer. His leadership will keep Creative Allies on track for triple digit growth after a summer of key milestones, including the completion of 500 contests and growth to a community of more than 50,000 designers.

"Kevin's promotion to COO is the result of his leadership inside our company and his tenacious work ethic," said Sean O'Connell, co-founder of Creative Allies. "Kevin combines experience with an incredible enthusiasm about Creative Allies' ability to fuel marketing campaigns for brands and bands."

With over 20 years of executive-level experience in the music, radio and entertainment industry, Carroll has a track record of spearheading major label launches and highly successful branding, marketing and promotions campaigns. He has been instrumental in Grammy-winning and multi-platinum album campaigns of some of the music industry's most celebrated artists: Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Fountains of Wayne, Keith Urban, Al Green, Bone Thugs N Harmony and Sinead O'Connor, among others.

"Thanks to Creative Allies, the creation of album art tour posters and t-shirts now belongs to passionate fans and designers as much as the bands," said Carroll. "I joined Creative Allies because I believe in this vision of building awareness and fan relationships around the design process. It's an honor to take on the role of COO at a company that has transformed marketing in the music industry."

On the Creative Allies platform, bands and brands can create contests around a theme and specific deliverable: album art, tour posters, t-shirts, film posters, logos and even beverage cans have been at the center of contests. Designers submit their graphics and fans discuss and vote on their favorites directly though the Creative Allies website or a band's social page. The process helps bands discover untapped talent, reach their audience and create merchandise that fans appreciate.

Active contests and return business are now at an all-time high on Creative Allies, poising the company for triple digit growth in 2013. Current contests include a t-shirt for Lady Antebellum, anniversary art for Eazy-E and a logo for Sublime.

Over 500 popular, upcoming and legacy bands have now run design contests including Keith Urban, Beastie Boys, Fleetwood Mac, Lady Antebellum, SlipKnot, Will.i.am, Paramore and Eminem. Brands like AriZona Iced Tea, Ben and Jerry's, Farmers Insurance and Toyota have also used Creative Allies for their design needs.

About Creative AlliesCreative Allies is an online art community and fan engagement platform that provides visual artists with opportunities to design merchandise for musicians, festivals and brands. Creative Allies gives anyone the chance to create original illustrations through open design contests. The website has provided hundreds of opportunities for Grammy-award winners and independent recording artists to Fortune 500 global brands. Creative Allies artists have the opportunity to win great prizes and earn commissions on merchandise sales.

Using its unique platform, Creative Allies has flipped music merchandise on its head by "fan-sourcing" the process in which merchandise is designed and sold. Fans now have a say in the process by sharing and voting on the best art. The end result is that Creative Allies can offer fans the merchandise they want.